The trip to Tartarus was uneventful and therefore a little bit boring. To help pass the time Thunder would have happily talked up a storm with anyone who would listen, including Nivalia even if he was hesitant to get within hugging distance. It would certainly fill the air, but his tendency to focus mostly on himself and his own personal exploits may have come off as grating after a while should one's patience be too limited. Much like with Charybdis whom would only speak sparingly and very little about herself. Her habit of taking off into the sky to "scout ahead" whenever something began to annoy her - aka whenever Thunder began to annoy her - showed her disinterest in getting friendly. Her disappearing every night when the group set up camp only to return when it was time to move on may have also indicated either a limited level of trust or perhaps a departure to satisfy hunger as, while Mana and Thunder took to eating from clean patches of grass as they moved, Charybdis was never seen eating anything. Mana was quieter than Thunder during the trip, but this was easily chalked up to his nose being buried in his notes as he tried to scribble down everything he could remember about Tartarus. He'd answer questions on the way if asked, so long as they stayed on topic with what he was writing about, but would stick to necessary information that elicited the fewest branching inquiries in order to better focus on his work.

Starting off skirting the edge of a treeline, reaching and then following the road as far as it would lead them, and only passing one other traveler on the way, the group would eventually be forced to rough it through the woods as early as the first night to keep on time. Camping among the trees and wildlife, the peaceful calm of the great outdoors may have made up for the ruined chance at relaxation back in Weaver. Mana suffered from the bad habit of staying up late to continue jotting down notes even if he wasn't on watch while Thunder made the best of the situation by snoring away the hours. Still, Mana toughed it out without complaint when it came time to move on and around the afternoon of their third day on the road they came to a stop on the thinning edge of the woods facing a small field of grass resting beside a cliff face stretching well over thirty meters upwards.

"Alright," Mana said, pointing a hoof at an unremarkable wall of rock decorated with a patchwork pattern of dirt and straggling foliage, "We're here, everybody. The entrance should be just over there." Charybdis reached a claw over to push Mana's hoof a little further to the left.

"Its actually there, Guardsman," she corrected with a self satisfied smirk, "Try not to get us lost at the very end."

Mana gave her a reserved glare while Thunder let out a mixture of a groan and a sigh as he fell to his side and rolled onto his back. "Finally," he nearly cheered, his legs going limp from apparent exhaustion that may or may not have been exaggerated, "my legs are killing me! If I had to go one more day trudging through the woods you'd have needed to leave me behind!" He made weak kicky kicks at the air and didn't seem to care that his armor was being smudged by the grass.

Although some of Nyx's energy was used by all the walking, she purposefully made as few constructs as possible to reserve as much magical energy as possible. So she continued to be very energetic, having lively conversations with Thunder, hanging around Nivalia while puzzling over her unique energy, and occasionally chasing after floating cotton fluffs for a few minutes before returning to the group. It had been years since Nyx had spent so much time outside, instead of shut up in her lab with piles of books and notes, and she forgotten how much she loved it.

When they finally reached their destination, Nyx grew a bit more serious, studying the cliff face. She glanced over at Thunder as he flopped down, and rolled her eyes as she walked over to him. "You poor thing!" She said dramatically. "If only you had another way to travel, to rest your legs..." She gave a pointed look at his wings, then grinned. "Get up! It's time to have an adventure."

“We knock.” Mana Burn answered plainly as if it they were visiting a friend at their house. He and Charybdis began walking towards the cliff they’d pointed out while Thunder rolled back over onto his hooves and used his wings to enter into a hover without any further complaint, his legs seemingly not as brittle as he made them seem. It didn’t take long to reach the wall though there was a brief pause when Mana slowed and turned to the others.

“It’s fine,” he assured them as if they had asked a question, Mana waving a hoof for them to follow him just before he turned and then appeared to… Disperse? It was as if he spread out and faded into the air the way a drop of food coloring does when it falls into a glass of water. Charybdis continued on without care, the same happening to her as she too faded into the air until there was nothing left. Thunder had a more cautious approach. He came to the edge where Mana had faded and squinted, trying his best to figure out what was going on up until a blue hoof sprang from thin air and pulled Thunder forward with a yelp.

Arriving on the other side, Thunder would be surprised to find that he’d felt nothing. As if he’d just stepped forward onto more grass, nothing was any different for him, Mana or Charybdis.

Well, aside from the now towering steel wall that suddenly existed on the rock wall before them. Curving in a soft arch at the top and decorated in glowing symbols, the wall was as imposing and cold as the material it was made from.  Nearly stretching as tall as the cliff itself and comparable in length for the width, Thunder was confused as to how such a thing could even fit into the cliff it was occupying, the edges almost seeming to adjust and shift whenever he wasn’t looking. It took Thunder several seconds of inspection before he realized that the wall divided at the center with a straight vertical line. It was, in fact a massive set of doors, two that possessed several small rectangular indentations at varying heights that Thunder could only assume were embrasures of some kind currently sealed with more steel.

“It’s fine,” Mana said again, walking forward with more self-control than Thunder and his wide-eyed feasting of the sight.

At the foot of the doors, towards the middle, were two smaller sections carved into the metal that revealed them as a much more appropriately sized pair of secondary doors fit for the group. Charybdis stayed a few strides back and watched Mana approach with crossed claws While Thunder stared up at the metal and wondered what the glyphs and runes did. Mana, as he said he would, took it upon himself to give the smaller doors a good solid knocking. There the group waited for a response.

Some time went by.

“Uh…” Mana suddenly wasn’t so sure about his methods. He caught himself before he could glance back at the others and show his uncertainty and could sense Charybdis rolling her eyes as he gave the door a second knock. Before he could finish, the metal swung back from one of the embrasures closest to the group and the head of a stallion popped out, his head wearing a helmet like that of the guards below although gray in color and lacking in the option of a plume.

“Hey, oh, what?” he half asked, and half shouted with darting eyes, “What’s this? What? Who-What do you want? How’d you find the door, what’s this? what’s going on? What do you want?”

“A shining example of Equestria’s finest,” Charybdis commented sarcastically, “guy sounds drunk and confused. Guess that explains that animal escaping a while back at least.”

“Hey-wh-that’s a bird! How’d you get a bird-cat this far west? What’s this?” There was the sound of a jostling set of armor as the head was pulled back from view, a second voice being heard through a muffle ordering the first to eat something just as a new face came into view. This second stallion looked the group over, then huffed and leaned over the edge of his vantage point.

“Lost? You better have official business if you’re coming up to us like this. Else we’ll have to kill you a little bit before you leave,” he casually informed the gathering, “just a little bit. Sorry, part of the job.”

Mana struck with temporary befuddlement over the exchange so far, did his best to shake it off and compose a proper response.

“We are,” his horn lit up and removed his badge from behind his armor, “My names Mana Burn, this here is Thunder and that’s Foxtrot,” nods given to each in turn, “We’re with the Equestrian Royal guard and require entry as part of an investigation. Is your warden available? We will need to speak to them immediately concerning an escaped inmate.”

“Royal guard, huh?” the stallion looked over the three mentioned then to the rest, “What about them?”

“Witnesses and experts relevant to the investigation.” A good enough answer, right? Technically true at least.

The stallion hummed for a moment then held a hoof up as if to tell them to wait before disappearing back behind the embrasure. The steel clanged shut back over the opening and left the group alone for nearly a full minute before swinging back open.

“Alright,” the stallion said, leaning back over to look at them, “I’m told to ask you what the password is. So, what’s the password.”

Mana looked over at Thunder then back at the stallion with a raised eyebrow.

“There is no password,” he replied, “we have our badges. Use them to verify our identity. We’re also very short on time and need to get moving.” Motioning for Thunder to get out his identification, Mana would do the same for Foxtrot if he hadn’t done so already.

“Yeah, okay, yes, I’ll be down in a second.” Mana could have sworn he heard the stallion sigh as the embrasure once again clanged closed. Shortly after one of the smaller doors before them creaked open enough to let the stallion step outside entirely, a few of the embrasures above opening up as well though it wasn’t clear if anyone was looking out of them.

“Alright, give ‘em here,” the earth pony as was now obvious took each badge in turn, flipping them around in his view and squinting really hard before giving each back. He frowned then put on a smile and gave Mana small shove on his shoulder. “Relax,” he told him, waving up at someone and causing the door to open further and open the way inside, “we’re just giving you a hard time. It gets boring manning The Wall and we never get visitors, so we try to make the most of it when we can.” He chuckled but Mana only bent his frown as his patience started to strain.

“The Warden is available for you to speak to him right now, if that makes you feel any better,” the stallion went on, motioning for the group to follow, “he’s in his office reviewing a recent transfer or alteration to a cell or some junk. I can show you the way.”

“Please,” Mana curtly urged as he and Thunder trailed behind the pony. Charybdis lingered behind them and gave the outside of the wall a long look before sighing and following the rest, the door creaking shut behind them once everyone who planning to come inside did so.

The door led to a square steel corridor stretching for just over three meters as the group passed under the massive set of doors surrounding them and were given an idea of how thick they were. On the other side of the doors the area opened into a large half cylindrical cavern of smooth stone walls that followed a similar shape to the doors outside though was a notable size wider to ensure the door could open and close without grinding against the walls.

This side of the doors was much different from the outside as while the outside was marked with runes, glyphs and the occasional scattered embrasure, this side was heavily scared with dents, scratches and scorch marks. On either side of the doors and curving with the walls of the cavern were a series of platforms and walkways allowing for a network of defensive cover and weapons to loom over the length of cavern leading up to the doors. Weapons the likes of scorpion turrets, ballistae - the ammo for which was so magically charged as to glow bright colors among the more drab battlements - and pots perpetually heated via magical flames  stood ready to face whatever tried to barrel towards the exit. Numerous ponies hefting crossbows and lazily leaning against their weapons meandered above, chatting among themselves and watching the newcomers as they walked further inside under the orbs of light that hung in the air to keep everything illuminated in a sterile shine.

It took several minutes for them to eventually near the back where the cavern tapered down and began to split off into more traditional corridors carved into the stone and lit by more orbs to ensure that everything remain clear as day. Another door, hefty but not as impressive as the first, took up another section of the wall just before the corridor began to shrink, Thunder being told it was the elevator used to transport larger inmates lower into the prison upon asking and wondering if the thing played any music as it went.

“Okay,” the stallion said, turning to face the group again with a small almost tired smile, “This is where I need you guys to split up.”

“Split up?” Thunder spoke with a scoff, “Why exactly? Do we need to find the office on our own or something?”

‘No no, It just that the Warden won’t speak to anyone who isn’t authorized to know the goings on here in the prison. You Royal Guards are fine, he’d be happy to help you with your investigation, I’m sure, but the rest of you are… what… civilians? That sounds right.

“You can head off to the rec room and relax while you wait,” he continued, pointing towards a corridor snaking off to the right, “there’s games and books and junk there for the off hours. Follow the corridor and just peek into the rooms until you see pool tables. If you’re hungry you can probably get something in the canteen. Same direction just don’t stop till you smell something burning.”

“What if we insist on joining the guards in speaking with he Warden?” Charybdis asked this, but it sounded more like a command.

“Then, uhm… I guess you’ll be here a while? Careful not to wander around lost or you’ll start making people jumpy. Just ask if you need help finding the rec room. Oh, and do not attempt to go any lower into the prison. If you aren't cleared to descend to any of the lower levels then you'll all be considered a hostile force and arrested.”

“I’m sitting this one out,” Thunder told the rest, “I’m actually starving to death as we speak. As in, I’m pretty much already a ghost haunting you. I’m going to go eat something, who’s with me?”

“Thunder, we need to-“

“Whose with me!?”

Onyx walks over to Thunder and Nivalia, "Count me in too! After all this travel, I'm famished. In fact, I'll race you all to it!" She gets a head start and beelines down the hall. Soon she would be in the cafeteria getting some grub.

Equilibrium spent most of the trek to the cavern like prison base in silence, scripting and writing on her book, occasionally asking other people questions, trying to make her small scale information prying seem like a casual chatter. After the party arrived to the spot of interest, the entrance to the prison, Equilibrium took a quick moment to draw a picture of the floored Thunder, smirking at the earlier quick about him wanting to seem herois for the pictures. This one will surely make him try harder.

After the door was found and the guards engaged in conversation with the questionable staff of the monster locale, Equilibrium made sure to document everything she saw and heard. Pouting when the party had to be split, she sighed and thought that she'd probably get a chance to see deeper into the compound later on, and for now she opted to join the others in the canteen. "I'm in. I hope they have more than some dry field rations here" She said to Thunder, passing a note to him as she walked past him and towards the motioned corridor. The paper note had the drawing she made of Thunder rolling in the grass from before, Clearly having added a dash of artistic freedom to it, the guard seemingly happily rolling in what seemed like a beautiful flowery meadow.

So the group split.

Those with Thunder and a now annoyed Charybdis took the corridor to the right where they soon met a sharp turn leading them into another stretch of smooth stone. On the walls hung things of varying relevance to the prison that they could inspect beneath the glow of the orbs lighting the way. Among them were photographs of ponies – one would guess them guards given their dress - an illustration of a ceremony of which the purpose was vague, and a few simple paintings of landscapes to break up the monotony of the otherwise drab décor. Thunder gave them quick glances as they walked while
Charybdis ignored them entirely.

Her focus was on the doors they passed by. Not a one was left in peace as she demanded to know the purpose of every room they found. Given that there were seemingly no guards on patrol within this hallway she suffered no consequence as she pulled back each door in turn and stole cursory glances to get a quick picture. One was a closet sporting brooms, sparsely populated shelves of bottles and boxes, and a stained ring on the floor giving off a sterile smell that she figured would make her dizzy if she got any closer. Moving on she found next a bathroom that held no surprises, then a small space with little more than a table and a few simple chairs and cushions for seating. While these doors had all been silent, the next, **** and leaking a soft sound of music, gave hints of life beyond.

Checking this door finally revealed the rec room and the small host of ponies within spending their time doing whatever. Three were gathered around a card table. They mumbled raises and folds as their drawn hands of playing cards decided and tapped at smoldering cigarettes while clinking bits into play. A lazy clack drew attention to a solo and dreary eyed stallion at a pool table knocking about the billiard balls with no apparent goal. In the corner was a record player crackling jazz while a mare sat snuggled up on a comfy looking chair flipping through a book. Aside from all this there was a couch, a small bookshelf and what looked like cupboards set on a wall behind a counter towards the back. The wall on the right caught Charybdis’ eye as well as she noticed it didn’t reach all the way across the room and instead ended some two meters or so short.

Deciding to investigate, Charybdis would break from Thunder here while he would only give the rec room a quick glance and move on in hopes of finding the canteen. Stepping inside, Charybdis immediately drew the attention of all those inside, activity ceasing for several seconds as they stared then exchanged glances. Apparently trying to play it off, the ponies inside would go back to what they were doing while not so subtly side glancing her and anyone else’s way with poorly masked suspicion.

Ignoring the occupants, Charybdis confidently strode forward, tossing a quick look over towards the back corners of the room as she went to check for anything she missed. Reaching the gap in the wall Charybdis found it indeed led to more room. Another room entirely in fact. A locker room, the state of which caused her to raise an eyebrow. Several long rows of lockers lined and filled the room as anyone would expect, but the lockers themselves were left looking like their contents were haphazardly stuffed inside. Numerous examples had their doors hanging wide open, and pieces of armor and various items decorated the benches and floor.

Tilting her head, Charybdis spotted a door on the back wall leading even further as well as a canvas laundry cart overflowing with laundry just beside it. Squinting, she thought for a moment that some of the clothes looked a little too rigid to be fabrics as they sported hard angles and corners. She’d would need to get closer to learn more, but she was reluctant to do so given her inexperience with the area. Instead she looked back into the rec room, the new position she was in allowing her to see behind the counter towards the back. There she could see a garbage can, again looking to be overflowing, this time with what looked to be snack wrappers and junk.

She gave a soft hum just before noticing that everyone in the room was looking at her. They did so from the edges of their vision, but as soon as she spotted them, they all quickly looked away. Well all but one of the ponies at the card table who instead continued to stare her down staring her down.

“… What?” she demanded to know.

“Are you lost?” the stallion asked her, the rest of the table watching her, “Do you need help finding something?”

Charybdis narrowed her eyes at the stallion then glanced at the table, the bits in play, and his current hand.

“I’m fine,” she harrumphed as began walking towards the door, “Just focus on losing your money.”

“Wha-I-hehe… I-I don’t know what she’s talking about…” The stallion attempted to save while his friends grinned like sharks.

---

Meanwhile, Thunder had kept on truckin’ along in search of his promised lunch. Trotting down the hallway he’d continued to give vacant glances toward the hung images and art up until he neared the end of the hall entirely and without any meals found. Worried he’d been duped and that there was in fact no food, he’d struggled to not show his brief panic attack just as the smell of something cookin’ caught his nose. The nearest door sported a small hand-crafted sign above it that simply read “Eats!” and had been decorated with an absolutely overjoyed little cartoon face next to a sandwich. Thunder had never felt a connection with anything else in his life more than he did with this sign.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” he said with an exaggerated sigh, speaking as if he’d just survived a trek through a desert with no water and had just spotted an oasis, “Praise the sun! Glory be! The goddesses provide and such!”

He grinned back at the others then looked down at the remaining length of hallway. There wasn’t much left, the remainder so short that he could see around the coming corner from where he was standing. There he saw a stallion like those he’d seen at the door, fully armed and presumably on duty. Thunder’s ears swiveled towards the stranger as he heard a muffled voice and noticed that they had been holding a hoof near to their lips. Assuming it was a comment about him (because who ELSE could they POSSIBLY be talking about when HE was around?) he struggled to listen for a follow up but was disappointed when the stallion lowered his hoof to a satchel on his belt without a word. There he seemed to drop some small object inside the satchel before leaning against the walls and crossing his front hooves. Thunder only saw it for a split second but would have bet at least half of the sandwich on the sign that it had been giving off some kind of light. For a moment he wanted to ask about it, but the stone-cold stare he was getting from the stallion was starting to make him uncomfortable, so he instead decided to head into the “eat” room.

Thunder was happy to find that the cartoon face outside hadn’t been lying and that this was indeed the food room. The room opened into a cafeteria with the serving tables being to the far left followed by a wide window and open door leading to what Thunder assumed would be the kitchen. Benches and tables were placed around the room to allow maximum capacity without getting in the way, and a few ponies sat here and there with trays both empty and occupied. A lot of trays actually. Too many trays. Why were there so many trays? And why were they dirty? Thunder would never pretend like he was the kind of person to wash his dishes regularly, but even he was surprised to find that some tables were cluttered with abandoned trays and utensils like dumping grounds for dishes.

Nearest the door was a stallion munching on what looked like roasted vegetables, the smell Thunder had no doubt noticed in the hall, and Thunder tilted his head at how it looked like he’d simply pushed aside the cluttered refuse and dishes to make room for himself.

“Hey, uh…” Thunder approached him and tried to spark an exchange, the stallion looking in his direction with obvious boredom followed by mild surprise when he failed to recognize the pony speaking, “What’s, uh… What’s cookin today?” Thunder asked with a jerk of his head towards the serving tables on the far left of the room. Being this close, Thunder noticed a number of the trays looked not only dirty, but dry, like they’d been there for a while.

Without speaking, the stallion looked at Thunder like he was an alien asking what food was entirely. He shrugged and pointed towards the kitchen then slowly resumed his chewing. Thunder gave a forced smile then backed away slow. Spinning on his hooves, he beelined for the kitchen as his tummy loudly demanded to be satiated. Reaching the serving tables, Thunder saw that they were on but empty and, like with he trays, in need of a good wash. Disappointed, but not deterred, he passed them and headed for the kitchen itself.

He didn’t notice the smell until he was already several strides into the kitchen. It wasn’t horrible, but it was noticeable. A mix of garbage and old food left out far too long. He’d been blind to it when he trotted directly for the cupboards but there were numerous bags serving as the sources of this smell. Piled in a corner and ignored, they sunk into each other and leaned against the walls furthest from the entrance. With a few slams of wooden cupboard doors, Thunder eventually was heard giving long sad sigh.

“This place is tapped!” he said, going from reaching up into a cupboard to falling back onto his rump, a small bag of peanuts being ripped open and poured directly into his mouth. He munched them down and tossed the bag over his shoulder with a pout.

“Where are all the cookies, potato chips, fruit, bread, candy, cakes, drinks, and… and… Man, I never realized how beautiful the castle’s lunch room was until now…” He sounded legit depressed as his mind ran with the thoughts of all the foods back home, “I guess what they say is right. You really don’t know what you got until its gone.” Being hit with a second wind, Thunder sprung to his hooves and rushed to the window overlooking the cafeteria.

‘Where’s all the food!?” he shouted at the scattering of occupants. They exchanged looks before one answered.

“There’s probably still a bunch of rice and potatoes in the pantry! Maybe some hay?”

“Wheres all the GOOD food!? And where did he get carrots!?” Thunder shouted more questions.

“These were the last ones!” The carrot muncher replied.

“How could you!? I’m going to starve here!”

---

“If you would just follow me then,” the stallion from the door said, motioning for Mana and Foxtrot to follow him down the left hall while the rest took the right. Mana nodded and followed, both he and Foxtrot being led further inside the first level of the prison and passing the occasional other pony who would side eye them as they went by. It was explained to them by the stallion that this area was the section of the level reserved for offices and administrative work, the doors they passed often being accompanied by a nameplate to make it clear which office belonged to who and the general décor being a mark better than what the rest of the group would have found on their end. Nicer paintings, better landscapes, and stuff that looked like it was worth something made the walls feel far less spartan. Honest to whatever god you favor, they even found a vase set on a pedestal and a couple of statues decorating an area cut wider into the surrounding stone than the rest of the hall. It was a sort of entryway that led to a library if the stallion was to be believed and Mana had to fight the urge to detour as his curiosity demanded to make time for a peek at least before he left.

A couple minutes of casual walking later and they closed in on the warden’s office. A larger more ornate door befitting the entrance to the room of the one in charge was the first giveaway. A deep brown in color, the doors were trimmed in gold and decorated with images of creatures and people carved directly into their face with an almost silly attention to detail as they carried out a scene of struggle and co-operation as the characters involved worked together to hold up what appeared to be pillars supporting the cavern above them. The doors looked heavy, expensive, and made of some kind of wood that Mana could not immediately recognize. Despite being in a prison, he couldn’t help but feel like he was about to enter into some kind of fancy mansion or noble’s foyer.

“Wow,” he commented with a whistle, “Those look expensive. How old are they, do you know?”

“Huh? Oh,” as if he’d not even noticed them, the stallion looked up at the doors then back at Mana with a shrug, “No idea. They’ve, uh… Heh… Been here longer than me. That’s all I know… I guess they do look expensive, don’t they…?” He hummed and seemed to appreciate the doors while Mana noticed that there was no nameplate beside this door. He considered asking the stallion the name of the warden, but they were already literally at his door, so he decided instead to just wait until he could meet the stallion himself.

“Anyway, this here is the main guy’s room,” the stallion said, shaking himself from his distraction and returning his focus to the ones following him, “just a word of warning that he can sometimes have a temper and that he doesn’t like to share so don’t ask. Seriously, don’t.”

“I don’t follow,” Mana said, confused as to what he meant. All he got was another shrug as the stallion’s interest seemed to be rapidly waning.

“You shouldn’t keep him waiting.” He informed both Mana and Foxtrot, Mana glancing back at Foxtrot with a raised eyebrow before realizing, several seconds later, that they apparently were meant to let themselves into the office. Feeling they’d wasted enough time as it is, Mana looked mildly annoyed as he took it upon himself to push the doors open and stepped up for the job. As heavy as they looked but not as difficult to move as he’d expected, the doors slowly swung open to reveal the room beyond.

Sizeable. Furnished. Luxurious compared to the rest of the prison they’d seen so far. And surprisingly messy. The room opened up wide with the ceiling reaching twice as high as that of the hallway outside. Boasting fine carpet and walls of paneling to imitate a wooden interior, the almost dome shaped room was going for and succeeding in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Large bookcases were situated against both the eastern and western walls. Areas for sitting and reading were evident with sperate furniture taking up space in a quit spot away from the door. A cabinet was proudly displayed with the tray, bottles and glasses set atop making its purpose – and recent use – clear. A large and fancy desk was situated on a rug towards the center of the room. Before it were two armchairs and behind it was one that put the others to shame. Even further beyond was something Mana was not expecting at all.

The back wall of the room looked like it had three very large windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The view was gorgeous. It had to have been magic - it obviously had to have been considering where they were - but the sweeping view of hills, grassland, edges of forest and a very clear river gave the impression of seeing a very real landscape from a high vista. “Natural” light flooded the room and lit everything fully and clearly, from the furniture, to the earth pony stallion sitting in front of the center window, a file splayed out on an end table beside him as he appreciated the view.

 His coat was a dark brown while his mane, very short as if it had been buzzed into a crew cut several weeks prior, was a very dark green edging close to full on black. He wore a light olive colored jacket with the frayed fabric indicating a loss of the sleeves that used to be present and on one side of his body hung a satchel bag while something metal on the other side glinted in the light of the windows.

Entering further into the room, Mana approached the desk and could hear the stallion speaking. Noticing that one of his hooves was raised near his face, Mana’s ears strained to pick up what was being said.

“…tychick. Keep watch on the rest,” the voice was rough and raspy, like someone who gave orders frequently and loudly, “Double up on the stairs. Wide berth. No tours. No noise. No exceptions.” That seemed to be it for now. The stallion lowered his hoof afterwards and Mana saw him fiddle with his satchel bag. The light of the window kept him from spotting exactly what he had done with it, but whatever it was took a mere second or two to complete. Then he closed the file he’d been reading and got up to turn and face his guests.

He looked mean. That was the first thought that came to Mana’s mind when he saw the stallions face. It was harsh and seemed creased in a way that suggested scowling came easy to him. A scar stretched from the left side of his jaw down near his throat and his hazel eyes seemed to look right through you and at something else inside. Mana’s eyes flicked from the stallion to the file on the end table near the window then down at the desk where he noticed many more, some open and scattered and the rest organized into three separate stacks. Papers, sketches and photos mixed on the table and a sweating glass of amber liquid and ice rested atop a hopefully unimportant page where it left a wet ring.

“This is rare,” the stallion spoke in the same rough voice and carried it across the room with ease as he drew nearer, a soft jingle type sound catching Mana’s ear as he walked, “Getting visitors has always been unusual for us here given how tricky it can be pinning down our location, and Guardsmen are even fewer since most of you seem to go out of your way to avoid us. Normally its family we deal with coming to visit inmates. The wealthy ones anyway. Seeing you guys tends to make us nervous, to be honest. It usually means something is wrong.”

“While it isn’t our intention to make you or your men nervous,” Mana replied, craning his neck enough to see a box of yet more papers and envelopes on the carpet around the corner of the desk, “I’m afraid that, if what you say is true, our visit may be more routine then I expected.”

“That’s a shame,” the stallion said, reaching the chair opposite the pair and taking a seat, the windows framing him with a sky that shouldn’t be there. Now that he was so near, Mana could see what had made the jingling and the glinting from earlier. A coil of chain was secured to the hip of the stallion, a metal ball dangling from the center and lightly brushing against the chain as it settled from the stallions movements. Beneath the coil Mana spotted something else, a short but viciously curved blade arcing from a wooden handle. To see the warden armed, and with a chain and sickle no less, caused the corner of Mana’s mouth to raise in confusion. “I was hoping this would be a mere check to make sure we were still kicking. I was willing to host and maybe even break out a game or two. I’m sure there’s a chessboard around here somewhere.”

“Sorry, not today,” Mana apologized, shaking off what he’d seen for the time being and moving on, “You already know this I’m sure, but my name is Mana Burn, and this is Foxtrot,” he introduced himself and his friend with a nod, “Royal Guardsmen, here on business. Urgent business.”

“Uh-oh,” the stallion picked up the glass that had been staining the papers and swirled its contents as he leaned back in his chair, “Urgent sounds bad. Well, Mana Burn and Foxtrot, my name is Bushwhacker, and I am the acting Warden of Tartarus. Welcome,” he casually swept his free hoof outwards, “to my prison.” He sipped his drink and watched his guests for a moment before continuing.

“Now… What can I do for you?”

When Nivalia follows the others to the mess hall, she's taken aback. The filth! The trays! Everything! She nearly reels back at the sight of it all. "Sweet Luna..." Trotting in, she eyes up the crusty trays, messy kitchen, and overall squalor of it all. That... and there's no food. There was rice and potatoes; a bit bare bones, but it is something she could work with. Not asking for permission, she joins Thunder and pats his shoulder, "Don't worry dear. I can whip up something for you. But first, I gotta clean this place." Her horn glows, Thunder is lifted through the window and sat down at one of the tables.

A rubber band is pulled from her bag, which is settled in the corner. Mane tied up, the real work begins. Hot water blasts down the sinks as drawers are slammed open. They're shut closed except those with soap and cleaning supplies. The trays, all the trays, lift up in a greenish glow and flow one by one over to her. Each one is then soaked in the steaming water, spun at incredible speeds as a scrub firmly presses down on them with soap before finally stacked on a counter that itself was wiped clean. Nivalia herself hums and sings to herself as she pulls out the rice and potatoes. The coming is done by hoof as the cleaning is all automatically done with her magic.

Spices, seasonings, salt, pepper, and even a few herbs from her bag are scooped up and placed on the counter in front of her. By now, half of the mountain of trays are already done. The remaining hay is tossed in a boiling pot and set to simmer. The kitchen, and dining area by now, smells of fresh cooking. Nivalia at this point is outright singing, though the language certainly isn't ponish. Another few minutes and the last tray is done; wiped dry and warm, it sits in front of the hungry guard. "Almost done, sweetie. I'm getting the hay glaze ready for the potatoes. I was able to find some beans in the lower counter. Don't know why they're next to the bleach. Still good though!"

With a swish, a fresh, warm tray slides over to Thunder. Seasoned rice and beans are topped with oven baked potato wedges. The wedges glisten with a sweetened hay glaze. Nivalia herself walks out with a tray. There's still enough for a few more hungry mouths if they want. "I've had more than a few nights working with bare bones for a meal. Just gotta do what ya can." Sitting down, she digs in and enjoys.

Equilibrium followed the rest of the group to the kitchen area, trying her best to make mental notes of her surroundings, but so far, there wasn't much to note on. Getting to see this high security prison's feeding area didn't raise any hopes for things to get better, as the mess was bad. Really bad. She gave way to the seemingly work-a-holic changeling, who barged into the kitchen, and instead began to munch on some rations she had with her, keeping her ears perked for any juicy details the guards might slip out.